Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF), announced its full schedule. The largest genre festival in the Baltics brings to the audience 30 features, numerous short films and special events. Get your tickets and join the horror feast!
The highlights of HÕFF Main Programme are:
Medusa Deluxe (dir. Thomas Hardiman)
Medusa Deluxe is a murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition. Extravagance and excess collide, as the death of one of their own sows seeds of division in a community whose passion for hair verges on obsession. The striking effect of Medusa Deluxe is like a fuzz of hairspray straight into the eyes.
Home owners (dir. Pablo Aragüés, Marta Cabrera)
The unprecedented Spanish horror comedy suits well to HÕFF repertoire, considering the overall crisis with the real estate prices. Anna and Maxi have just found their dream house, which at first seems perfect and is even so good and helpful in a truly magical way that it gives them everything they want as soon as they say it out loud...
Meet the filmmaker! The screening includes QA with the director Pablo Aragüés.
Beau is Afraid (dir. Ari Aster)
This year's most awaited fantasy film appears at HÕFF. "With his previous works, Ari Aster has created quite high expectations. ‘Beau is Afraid’ is going to be different - something surprising in any case," says Helmut Jänes, the head of the festival. The surreal horror comedy is a story about Beau, a man afraid of everything outside his house. One day, he has to face the outer world and his fears. An extraordinary series of events begins, and Beau has to realise what is real and what exists only in his fears. Beau is portrayed by an Academy Award winner, Joaquin Phoenix.
Good Boy (dir. Viljar Bøe)
Good Boy is a low-budget psychological thriller with a distinctly dark and faintly absurd style from Norwegian director Viljar Bøe. The story is about Sigrid and Christian who are having a chemistry. There is just one tiny problem: Christian's housemate Frank dresses and acts like a dog.
Viljar Bøe's interview about Good Boy can be found HERE
Pensive (dir. Jonas Trukanas)
Lithuanian slasher ‘Pensive’ world-premiered at PÖFF 2022 Baltic Competition Programme. The first feature of Jonas Trukanas tells a gruesome story about classmates who follow the tradition of renting a cottage for a weekend to celebrate their graduation.
Jonas Trukanas interview about Pensive can be found HERE.
Sisu
Finnish newspaper Helsingit Sanomat has already announced "Sisu" as the best Finnish action thriller of all times. Episodi, the biggest cinema magazine in Finland, describes the film as "The wet dream of action fans". The dark and twisted absurd thriller-comedy takes place during Lapland War. A man finds gold from the arctic tundra. The nazi enemies also want the gold and the Finnish guy refuses to hand it out. A brutal clash occurs. The film is forbidden under 16 and not recommended for the faint-hearted.
Before the screening, a charity auction of exclusive items from Estonian and international films will take place. The festival will donate the proceeds to Slava Ukraini for medical supplies. The auction will be hosted by Mart Sander.
Have look on the full programme HERE
Highlights from other HÕFF programmes:
The 18th edition of HÕFF horror glamour brings attention to Finnish mythology. The opening ceremony culminates with Finnish fairytale-cult film "Sampo". Before the screening, Estonian most bizarre punk band, Winny Puhh promises to give a jaw-dropping live concert.
In Focus: Kim-Ki-duk Firsts
This year, HÕFF is going to present a 3-piece retrospective of Kim Ki-duk's early works from his pre-breakthrough era: “Crocodile” (1996), “Birdcage Inn” (1998) and “The Isle” (2000).
"We aimed to honour Ki-duk's creative life by showing his rather overlooked films. It's really intriguing to see, how even his very first features reveal his truly distinctive directing style - for instance, depicting brutality through beauty and philosophy", says the head of the festival, Helmut Jänes.
Mesmerizing, cruel and sickening! A crazy tri-movie marathon of Hong Kong’s wildest Category III cinema
This year’s HÕFF late night marathon showcases three of Hong Kong's most notorious Category III films. For those unfamiliar with the term, Category III was a rating given by the Hong Kong government to films deemed unsuitable for anyone under 18 due to their graphic violence, sexual content, and other taboo themes.
Viennese Trash: Murderkino Short Films
Welcome to the oldest Kino in Vienna: Murderkino. A sick and twisted family of the old guard runs this theatre of fears with one goal in mind: cruel and sadistic murder. Filled with obscene jokes, dumb exaggerations and occultism, this is definitely one of the strangest depictions of Vienna ever.
Meet the filmmaker! The author, Scott Clifford Evans, will also be there.
In Focus: Pinocchio is Punk
Two films, two visions, one puppet. Rasmus Merivoo and Shozin Fukui created two different and utterly offbeat versions of Carlo Collodi’s long-nosed Pinocchio. One of them is a musical trash comedy full of explosions and songs that are especially targeted at young people suffering from their teenage years. The second one is...well it's a surprise.
The full list of screenings with QA is HERE
The single full ticket costs 7 euros and the ticket for the opening ceremony is 15 euros. HÕFF pass for all the screenings (incl. nighttime parties) costs 65 euros.
Check out the ticket information